REMINDER: The Case for Pacelli

Rorate Note: Re-posting this from April 2014. Vatican II, Liberation Theology and the near destruction of the liturgy and the Church were canonized today. While we are now asked to pray to Pope St. Paul VI, we are also asked to ignore the last traditional pontificate of Pius XII, whose case for canonization has been thwarted. Yet, while Paul VI laicized so many priests and religious, and oversaw the destruction of the Roman Rite, Pope Pacelli reigned over a glorious flourishing of the Church in almost all measurable aspects. See below for some staggering statistics:  
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The canonizations of Pope John XXIII and John Paul II will take place this Sunday, with many flocking to Rome to be a part of the historic event.

Without questioning the two already-mentioned canonizations, the question still remains: Why not Pacelli? 

Let it not be forgotten that his cause for beatification was expressly launched by Paul VI together with that of John XXIII precisely to combat their "almost being turned into symbols or banners of opposite tendencies within Catholicism". (Source) In beatifying and canonizing one but not the other -- does this not imply something about the relative strength of these "opposite tendencies" within the Church? 

Clearly, a very strong case can be made for Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (Pope Pius XII), from a standpoint of sheer numbers alone.

For those who say we are now living in the greatest age of the Church, let us consider the numbers below, just for the dioceses of the United States during the reign of Pius XII. They are remarkable, to say the least -- if the canonization of a Pope also takes into consideration the appraisal of his pontificate (other than his personal holiness and his prophetical wisdom, both of which are irreproachable regarding Pope Pacelli), then these surely deserve observation:

The Canonization of Vatican II: The case for Pacelli, revisited

Today, it was reported that Pope Bergoglio announced last week in his annual Lenten meeting with priests in Rome, that Paul VI will be canonized a saint this year.

As terrifying as this is, it should come as no shock. No matter how much damage they did, no matter how many souls they lost to Hell, no matter how much they destroyed the liturgy and, with it, the Faith, one thing is clear: Vatican II is being canonized via these failed pontiffs.

Since 1983, and the dissolution of the Devil's Advocate, Catholics of good will can honestly question these canonizations. What cannot be questioned, however, is the tragedy that is the case for sainthood for Pope Pius XII.

While the post-Concilliar popes (yes, all of them), left nothing but destruction, or at best the slowing of destruction in their wakes, the Church under Pope Pacelli flourished in every category.

And so we bring you this post, from 2014, as a reminder of what the last, saintly, Pre-Concilliar Pontificate accomplished in the United States:

For the record: Fr. Minutella threatened with "double excommunication"

There's no point in even comparing the good Don Minutella with every wretched heretical priest -- even some speaking on behalf of the Vatican -- who bring countless souls to Hell through their preaching and television appearances. Not only do these priests not not face excommunication, but are widely praised, and are empowered by Pope Francis himself. But the names are too endless to even start comparing. So we simply bring you this sad video, dubbed over in English. Welcome to the Church of Francis:

Guest Op-Ed: Cultic Charity in the Church (and a note about yesterday's Motu Proprio)

Cultic Charity in the Church:

Returning to a Full Celebration of the Ancient Roman Rite

By Veronica A. Arntz

The liturgical treasures of the Church are perhaps her greatest and most sublime. These beautiful treasures, from Gregorian chant to vestments to the language of the ancient rite itself, are to be reverenced and preserved, just as the many great saints of antiquity have done before us. As we are all very well aware, the preservation of the liturgical treasures of the Church has been in decline since the Second Vatican Council, in many, if not most, parishes and dioceses. With Pope Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum, which declared that the ancient rite was never abrogated, we have seen an increase in the celebration of the ancient Roman liturgy—many within the Church have been given the spiritual boldness to preserve this liturgical rite. In the tenth anniversary year of Benedict’s Summorum Pontificum, it is worth meditating on why it is important to maintain with reverence and encourage the celebration of the ancient Roman Rite. Namely, if we look to Cardinal Charles Journet’s theological perspective on charity within the Church, we will have a better understanding of why it is necessary to uphold the ancient liturgical traditions of the Church.

In his work Theology of the Church (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004), Journet explains that charity is the created soul of the Church; he argues that this soul is cultic, sacramental, and directed (p. 170). For the purposes of this essay, I shall focus on the cultic aspect of charity. With regards to charity as the soul of the Church, Journet explains, “We can define this soul by saying that it is a charity that is Christic and Christ-conforming, which has come, under the New Law, to full birth” (Ibid.). Through charity, we are fully conformed to Christ, for we are willing to be united to him. To those who would argue against charity as the created soul of the Church, Journet explains that membership in the Church involves two elements: theological faith and the will to remain in the Church (p. 171). For this reason, a sinner is personally deprived of charity, but charity can never be completely absent from the Church herself (Ibid.). As Journet further describes, “Where the charity of Christ is in its fullness, that is, where it is cultic, sacramental, and directed, the soul of the Church is whole; the Church, composed of the just and sinners is in perfect, or complete, act” (p. 172). This is a remarkable statement: the charity of the Church is in perfect act where the liturgy (her cult) and her sacraments are thriving. Charity is not primarily bound up with humanitarian efforts, social justice activities, ecumenism, or any other external activity. Rather, charity and liturgy are intimately linked, as Journet understands it.

Vatican investigator Archbishop Hoser purposely contradicts Francis on Medjugorje hoax

We here at Rorate rarely laud Francis. However, he has been consistent, and we have consistently lauded him, for his numerous dismissals, and outright mochary, of the Medjugorje hoax. 

But one man is openly, and purposely, contradicting Pope Bergoglio. 

Archbishop Henryk Hoser was appointed to simply investigate whether "pastoral practices" were being properly handled at Medjugorje. However, he has taken the opportunity, according to Poland's Catholic Information Agency, to himself declare the hoax is real and predict that it will be approved, and possibly as early as this year. 

This must infuriate Francis. Why? Because it was only back in May that Francis, for all intents and purposes, closed the door on the hoax that fools 2.5 million ignorant Catholics a year. And Archbishop Hoser knows this -- it was said on the Papal Plane and widely reported: 

Pope Francis: "... The apparitions, the presumed current apparitions: the report [Ruini] has its doubts. I personally am more nasty, I prefer the Madonna as Mother, our Mother, and not a woman who’s the head of a telegraphic office, who everyday sends a message at such hour. This is not the Mother of Jesus. And these presumed apparitions don’t have a lot of value. This I say as a personal opinion. But, it’s clear. Who thinks that the Madonna says, ‘come tomorrow at this time, and at such time I will say a message to that seer?’ No."

Now, if Francis doesn't shut down the Hoser Hoax, and actually does flip flop and "approve" the evil stemming from Medjugorje, what are serious Catholics to do? 

According to Benedict XVI: "It is possible to refuse to accept such revelations and to turn from them, as long as one does so with proper modesty, for good reasons, and without the intention of setting himself up as a superior."

Whether it's consecrated religious disobeying their superiors, fake seers getting rich off the fake apparitions, fake apparitions saying fake religions are equal to Catholicism, and so on and so on, serious Catholics can modestly, and with very good reason, agree with Francis, even if they're approved. 

They can rightly and confidently continue to say: "This is not the Mother of Jesus."

De Mattei: The Second Vatican Council and the Message of Fatima

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

August 2, 2017

Rorate Caeli, Corrispondenza Romana and other Catholic news-outlets, carried a valuable intervention by Monsignor Athanasius Schneider on the “Interpretation of the Second Vatican Council and its relationship with the current crisis in the Church”. According to the auxiliary Bishop of Astana, Vatican II was a pastoral Council and its texts should be read and judged in the light of the perennial teaching of the Church. In fact “From an objective point of view, the statements of the Magisterium (Popes and councils) of definitive character, have more value and more weight compared with the statements of pastoral character, which have naturally a changeable and temporary quality depending on historical circumstances or responding to pastoral situations of a certain period of time, as it is the case with the major part of the statements of Vatican II.”

Monsignor Schneider’s article was followed on July 31st by a balanced comment from Don Angel Citati of the FSSPX (http://www.sanpiox.it/attualita/1991-suaviter-in-modo-fortiter-in-re), according to which the German Bishop’s position recalls very closely what was repeated constantly by Monsignor Marcel Lefebvre: “To say that we evaluate the  Council’s documents “in the light of Tradition”, means, evidently, three indissoluble things: that we accept those that are in keeping with Tradition; that we interpret those that are ambiguous according to Tradition; that we reject those that are contrary to Tradition” ( (Mons. M. Lefebvre, Vi trasmetto quello che ho ricevuto. Tradizione perenne e futuro della Chiesa, [I transmit what I have received. Perennial Tradition and the future of the Church] by Alessandro Gnocchi and Mario Palmaro, Sugarco Edizioni, Milano 2010, p. 91). Having been published on the official site of the Italian District, Don Citati’s article helps us understand what might be the base of an agreement to regularize the canonical situation of the Fraternity of Pius X.

Guest Op-Ed - Bishop Schneider: The interpretation of Vatican II and its connection with the current crisis of the Church

Once again, we are honored to post this guest op-ed, submitted to us by His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider. We not only allow but encourage all media and blogs to reprint this as well. 

By Bishop Athanasius Schneider

Special to Rorate Caeli

July 21, 2017

The interpretation of Vatican II and its connection with the current crisis of the Church

The current situation of the unprecedented crisis of the Church is comparable with the general crisis in the 4^th century, when the Arianism had contaminated the overwhelming majority of the episcopacy, taking a dominant position in the life of the Church. We must seek to address this current situation on the one hand with realism and, on the other hand, with a supernatural spirit – with a profound love for the Church, our mother, who is suffering the Passion of Christ because of this tremendous and general doctrinal, liturgical and pastoral confusion.

We must renew our faith in believing that the Church is in the safe hands of Christ, and that He will always intervene to renew the Church in the moments in which the boat of the Church seems to capsize, as is the obvious case in our days. 

The myth of the Hermeneutic of Continuity

The following Rorate translation was first published by our Spanish-language partners "Adelante la Fe." 

Interview of José María Permuy, conducted by Javier Navascués

Papolatry is a widespread phenomenon in the Catholic Church. Many Catholics take as infallible everything the Pope says, failing to realize that the successor of Peter is only infallible under very specific and limited conditions and when he speaks ex cathedra, which in practice occurs only rarely. Conservative groups, together with many members of the Church, cherish an especial veneration for the Second Vatican Council and its documents. In effect, they elevate what was merely a pastoral council to the level of infallible dogma. In accordance with Benedict XVI’s thesis of the hermeneutic of continuity, they would interpret the Second Vatican Council in the light of Tradition, without rupture or break, without the least error, approving of everything. This cannot be.

José María Permuy, a professional in the field of education, a lecturer and author of many articles on the traditional teachings of the Church, explains on this occasion why it is not possible to speak of “hermeneutic of continuity” in its proper sense.

Why cannot this concept be accepted?

Because it is a half-truth, well-intentioned as it may be. It is certain that there are conciliar texts that are susceptible to two or more interpretations. There, precisely, lies the problem. If these texts were clear, there would be no room for diverse interpretations. The fundamental problem, therefore, is not the subjective interpretations that are made, but the ambiguities and the objective contradictions made in some of the affirmations of the Second Vatican Council in comparison with the Magisterium of all time.

It is true that over the years the Popes have tried to clarify doctrinal issues, such as the primacy of the Pope or the necessity of Christ and His one true Church for salvation. 

It is no less certain that on other occasions, the Popes, including Benedict XVI, have promoted, in theory or in practice, conciliar ideas contrary or alien to the Tradition of the Church, such as the separation of Church and State, ecumenical and interreligious prayer meetings, the recognition of the “martyrdom” of heretics and schismatics, the translation of the Mass into the vernacular and the progressive introduction and permission for Communion in the hand, extraordinary Eucharistic ministers, altar girls, etc… Francis is doing nothing but taking these erroneous ideas to their logical conclusions.

De Mattei: Francis imposes concelebration in the Priestly Colleges of Rome

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

June 28, 2017

There is this rumour going around in the Vatican. One of Pope Francis’ collaborators asked him if it were true that a commission had been set up “to re-interpret” Humanae Vitae and he responded “It is not a commission, it’s a study group”. This is not only a linguistic ploy to hide the truth, but a play on words which reveal how the cult of contradiction is the essence of this pontificate. Monsignor Gilfredo Marengo, coordinator of the “study group”, sums up this philosophy well when he says we need to avoid the “polemical game - the pill - yes - the pill - no, just like today’s – Communion to the divorced - yes - Communion to the divorced - no” (Vatican Insider, March 23^rd 2017).

We need this premise to present a new confidential document, it also, the product of another “study group”. It is the “working paper” of the Congregation for the Clergy “On Concelebration in the Colleges and Seminaries of Rome”, which is circulating in an unofficial way in the Roman colleges and seminaries.  What emerges clearly from this text is that Pope Francis wants to impose Eucharistic Concelebration in the colleges and seminaries of Rome, de facto, if not in principle, affirming that: “the celebration in community must always be preferred to individual celebration”. 

Conciliar Possession

By Don Denis Puga, FSSPX

Le Chardonnet

June, 2017

Father Denis Puga is the new parish priest at the FSSPX Church of Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet  in Paris, which publishes the newsletter of the same name.

Shortly before undergoing His terrible Passion, Our Lord solemnly warned His disciples: “Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat” (Luke, 22, 31). This warning is also for us today, as the Church, following Her Master, is undergoing a terrible crucifixion. Our Church has been abandoned and betrayed.  Our Church has been taken over.

The prudence of a combatant requires that he must never underestimate his adversary. St. Paul tells us that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the princes of darkness. Our adversary? The Demon himself, the Prince of this world, as Jesus was to point out often with great precision. 

We cannot sanctify ourselves outside the present concrete situation of the Holy Catholic Church, the Ark of Salvation which, alone, can lead us safe and sound onto the shores of eternal life.

Now, this Church – we have to acknowledge – is in a catastrophic state, like “a boat leaking water in every side” according to a recent Pope despite the fact the he himself, in his lifetime, contributed  in causing many of the leaks. 

Vatican II: An anniversary worth forgetting, but numbers that cannot be forgotten

Today is the 54th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. There's really not much left to be written about this -- all you need to know, frankly, is easily found by visiting a local parish. But it is a good opportunity to look at the numbers since the Council's close in 1965. It's also very interesting to look at them in comparison to Pope Venerable Pius XII, which we provide below.

The following statistics via CARA:

Book launch in London, 20th July - 'Vatican II: a Pastoral Council'

The Latin Mass Society is sponsoring a book launch in London for Fr Serafino Lanzetta's book: 20th July, from 6:30pm, in the basement of St Mary Moorfields, Eldon Street, London, concluding with Vespers at 8pm with the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge.

It is open to all and free, but since we are providing refreshments please let us know you are coming: emaile info@lms.org.uk with 'Book launch' in the subject line.

Fr Lanzetta's book is being published in English for the first time, by Gracewing. Its translation into Englishw was sponsored by the Latin Mass Society.

Below is a written interview with Fr Lanzetta about his book.

What sort of Mass did 'Vatican II' want?

The Traditional Mass on the Chatres Pilgrimage. Not as off-putting to young people as Pope Paul VI imagined. Photo by John Aron.

Liturgical conservatives and progressives argue endlessly about this. Their argument will never be resolved, both because Sacrosanctum Concilium was and the subsequent magisterium has been self-contradictory, but also because neither side in the debate is willing to be honest about the historical facts. I am sorry to be harsh, but having read the output of both sides of the debate over a number of years, it is time it was said.

De Mattei - The current crisis in the context of Church history

   Roberto de Mattei

Speech, Roman Life Forum 2016

May 6, 2016

In the Gospel, Jesus uses many metaphors to indicate the Church He founded. One of the most fitting is the image of the boat threatened by a tempest (Matt. 8, 23-27; Mark, 4, 35-41; Luke 8, 22-25). This image has often been used by the Fathers of the Church and the Saints when depicting the Church as a barque at sea, shaken and tossed by the waves and, which lives, we could say, amid tempests, without ever being submerged by the waves.

Well-known in the Gospel, is the scene of the tempest on Lake Tiberias, calmed by Our Lord: “Tunc surgens imperavit ventis et mari” (Matt. 8, 26). When the Papacy was in Avignon, Giotto depicted the scene of Peter’s tempest-tossed boat in a famous mosaic originally found in the gable of  Old St. Peter’s Basilica and which is now in the atrium of the new Basilica.

During Lent of 1380, Saint Catherine of Siena made a vow to go to St. Peter’s every morning to pray in front of this image. One day, the 29^th of January 1380, around the time of vespers, while Catherine was absorbed in prayer, Jesus, came out of the mosaic and placed the ‘Navicella’ of the Church on her shoulders. The Saint, overwhelmed by so much weight, fell unconscious to the ground. This was the last visit made to St. Peter’s  by Catherine, who had always exhorted the Pope to guide the ‘Navicella’ of the Church fearlessly. 

Throughout two thousand years of history, the mystical Ship of the Church has always braved storms and tempests.

“Christians want to be Christians”

Don Divo Barsotti with Cardinal Biffi (1998)

Reflections by Don Divo Barsotti,

 “Christians want to be Christians”

“To think that in two months they threw out what we held most sacred. Gregorian chant is truly religious singing. It was thrown out with such conviction and so easily – actually, with a total sense of irresponsibility. At first they even wanted to throw out the Blessed Virgin, but we had a Pope who was very devoted to Her and so She found Her place again in the heart of the Catholic Church. 

"I don’t know what they wanted to accomplish with all this.

Pope Francis served the traditional Latin Mass!

A children's book titled "Dear Pope Francis" is set to be released March 1. 

While there will undoubtedly be much to analyze once it's published, one excerpt, which was shared with us, stood out. And -- as is typical with this pontificate -- not in a good way. 

Pope Francis, as could be assumed, served the traditional Latin Mass as a boy. If you wonder why the tradition of the Church never stuck with the young Jorge Bergoglio, maybe this disturbing explanation tells us why:

Ecumenism: An Essay by Don Pietro Leone

Five years after Don Pietro Leone’s first contribution to our site, on the Roman Liturgy, we are happy to present the following essay on Ecumenism. We also recommend to our readers Pius XI’s encyclical Mortalium Animos, issued on January 6, The Feast of the Epiphany, 1928, which contains everything a Catholic needs to know in order to  evaluate ecumenism correctly. Don Pietro Leone is the pen name of a priest who celebrates the traditional Mass in full and peaceful communion with his Ordinary somewhere in that great cradle of civilization known as Italy.

50th Anniversary of In Spiritu Sancto, the Brief Closing the Second Vatican Council

Procession on the Last Day of the Council

APOSTOLIC BRIEF “IN SPIRITU SANCTO’ FOR THE CLOSING OF THE COUNCIL DECEMBER 8, 1965 read at the closing ceremonies of Dec. 8 by Archbishop Pericle Felici, general secretary of the council.

Rorate note (New Catholic): There is one characteristic which all, from Traditional Catholics to the proudest "Progressives", can clearly identify in the Conciliar documents, and that is their complete lack of any sense of modesty or humility. The grandstanding is sickening. This is late 1965, the crisis is already in full view for all with eyes to see, yet the Pope has no doubt in calling it then " the richest [event]" in the history of the Church. (!!!)

50th Anniversary of the “Christian Humanism” of the Council

Paul VI at the close of the Second Vatican Council

Today is the fifthieth anniversary of an important papal address, namely, the address delivered by Pope Paul VI during the last general meeting of the Second Vatican Council on December 7, 1965. We see here the emergence of the "Christian humanism" that outlined the course the Church was to follow for the next 50 years: an emphasis on adapting to modern man, accommodating him, re-interpreting the Gospel in a new light, etc. There is much worth pondering in this true manifesto for what was to follow. We reproduce it here in full, with some emphases.

Pope Francis orders no conversions in Catholic schools

A note: Some of these quotes are clunky, not due to our translation -- we translated literally. It's that Francis' thoughts, not only as they are in his head, but as they come out of his mouth, are all over the place and incomplete. But you get his drift. 

Also, and this should go without saying, but we'll say it anyway: We hate reporting this stuff. But, either way, it must be kept and preserved, a record for the future so that, we pray, our children's children will never make the mistakes our recent relatives did, welcoming their own version of a "springtime" which quickly became a living Hell.

The Pope: “No to proselytism in Catholic schools”

Then an accusation: teachers are badly paid.

La Repubblica

November 21, 2015